Food reviews- March 2011

When grocery shopping, besides picking up new foods that center around that month's theme, I treat myself to other Elizabeth-friendly foods that are gluten and dairy free.

I found a local supplier of vegan tomales. This makes for a quick lunch with beans and chips. I prefured the goat cheese and red bell pepper flavor, until I re-read the ingredients and saw that there is mozzarella in them. No wonder I liked them so much!

Also pictures is the corn and lemongrass soup which was really good with gluten free pretzels.

I still have yet to try the bread mix, the acorn squash and mango soup and the spice mixes for Indian dishes. I'll keep you posted.

There are so many exciting foods to eat!!! No wonder I get all giddy grocery shopping. I'm such a dork that I actually went to Berkeley Bowl when I didn't even need groceries so I could look at all of the food on 4 of the aisles. There are still more aisles to peruse and dishes to learn. All I seem to do lately is cook and exercise. No wonder I love life.

Superfood Month update

Since having food allergies I typically take things out of my diet. Now I am adding new foods to my repertoire! This month's theme is Superfoods, which I know just about nothing. Each week when I go grocery shopping I'm picking at least one snack or ingredients for a meal that centers about the theme for the month.

Last week I picked up raw cacoa nibs, dehydrated "cheesy" kale, Raweos, and goats milk kefir.

• My chocolate dealer taught me that raw cacoa is not the most hygienic. Since cacoa is sorted on the ground it's best to buy the roasted nibs. I'm now a tab grossed out, but I'll finish the bag and continue to toss them on my oatmeal.
  

• The kale caught my eye because it's covered in nutritional yeast. Another friend told me about this powder that vegans use to flavor foods with a cheesy taste. The kale was crunchy and light and almost gone! I'll get this again for sure.

• I've been eying the kefir on and off for the past 3 years and I finally built the courage to buy goat's milk. Goat cheese can be so intense and not always in a good way. The bottle I picked up is like liquid yogurt, that's pineapple, coconut and mango flavored. I sip it in a shot glass. It is pure heaven!

• The Raweos are mashed up cashews and some other nuts. The presentation and texture are good, but the flavor is so-so. I like that they are 100 calories each, so they make a good, quick snack.

March is Superfood month

Since my meals were all tasting the same I decided to pick a theme per month and cook one new dish per week.

March is Superfood month!!

I like the idea of eating the most easiest digestible foods, that are packed with the most nutrients. Sounds like my body will work less hard and I might not have to cook as often. And all of the superfoods I can eat!! Talk about novel.

So far I've learned that fresh coconut water is like drinking gateraid, except it doesn't have food coloring or sugar. For this week I picked up a coconut, which I really loved drilling.

I know just about nothing about superfoods, so I've started my research on Food Matters. Everything is explained simply. I really appreciate that.

February is Thai month

My meals were becoming repetitive and uneventful, so each month I've going to pick a theme and cook one new dish a week.

February is Thai month!
I didn't go over board. I really only did a few new dishes, mostly canned curries, rice or noodles with veggies. I also ate out for Thai and had wonderful pumpkin curry severed in a pumpkin.

The above photo shows a fresh coconut that I drilled. And a bowl of curry, coconut milk, cashews and raisins over rice.